Listener: When Holy Spirit began to share messages and revelations for Daily Bread, He told me that He would speak, and that I was to listen and record what I heard. However, this morning He asked me to step aside from my role as Listener today in order to speak to those readers who have not yet accepted Jesus as their Savior. When I asked Holy Spirit why I was to deliver this important message, He replied, They cannot hear My Voice and have not accepted My words when they came though someone else. Perhaps they will accept the words of someone who was at one time as reluctant to come to Jesus as they are now. Listener: When Holy Spirit speaks, I obey. Hear my testimony.
For years I was an agnostic; not an atheist, but an agnostic. An atheist says, in fact usually insists, that God does not exist. I, with pride in my moral and intellectual integrity, said, “I do not know that God exists, but I also do not know that there is no God.” This self-centered opinion changed radically when I suffered a vicious and terrifying demonic attack. That encounter with what was so obviously an evil entity, convinced me that a completely opposite, benevolent force for good must also exist. No longer an agnostic but not yet a Believer, I could not accept the fact that I needed Jesus. However, now I did believe in God and began to read the Bible, even though the Word of God did not have much impact on me at that time. Now, fast forward several years to a period when overwhelming personal problems, including the fact that my marriage was disintegrating, led me to decide that my emotional pain was so great that I no longer wanted to live. At that time I did not believe in any form of life after death. I believed that oblivion followed death, and oblivion was what I sought. I made very careful plans with two objectives: To spare those whom I loved as much as possible of the emotional trauma resulting from my selfish act. So much for my intellectual integrity! There was no way that I could avoid hurting my adult children, parents, and grandparents if I committed suicide. However, the second objective was possible, that my last act on earth would not end in failure.
At this point you may wonder why I have subjected you to such a long introduction. The answer is that I believe at least some of you may identify with the overwhelming sense of hopelessness which led to my suicide attempt and may find hope in what God did for me. He completely disrupted my carefully laid plans for a successful death. I made the attempt, but a series of unpredictable and unexpected events led to my awakening the next morning to face the life that I had wanted to end, now with the added problem of everyone knowing what I had done. Even more disturbing, my reasoning mind came to the conclusion that I had, in effect, placed my life in the garbage can of death, and at the last minute God had reached in and taken my life out of that garbage can. I could not avoid the conclusion that the life I had attempted to end no longer belonged to me; it now belonged to God. And so I spent a year seeking to determine how I was to live the life that now belonged to God. During that search I encountered Jesus but initially rejected Him as being far too “exclusive.” He claimed to be the only Way to God! I was too open-minded to accept that when there seemed to be so many “other ways” to God. But gradually, with the persistent and prayful help of Christian friends in a wonderful support group, I accepted the fact that Jesus truly is the only Way. He paid the price for ALL of my sins and offers me salvation and eternal life. God’s intervention had pulled me back from the brink of hell, giving me a second chance to accept Jesus’ offer to be enabled to live my life on earth transformed by His Love and to anticipate with great joy spending eternity in His Presence. Jesus makes the same offer to you. If you are ready to accept His offer but have not yet told God, I urge you to do so by praying the prayer at the end of this testimony. If you are not ready to make a decision, stick around to read some of the wisdom of God in Daily Bread. It might help you to decide. For those are ready to become a part of the Family of God, here is the Prayer: Lord, I confess that I have done things that I should not have done. I have sinned, and because You always do what You say You will do, the penalty for these sins must be paid. I believe that you sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay for my sins for me. Right now, I receive Jesus into my life as my Savior and ask You to forgive me. Thank You, Jesus. Please help me to walk with you. Amen